Black Lily
by Echo Chambers
Summary: Lily's grandmum just died, and now Lily is finding herself thrust into the world of magic. Trying to fulfill her grandmum’s last wish, she vows to become a great figure skater. When school and skating conflict, will Lily be forced to give up her dreams?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**Chapter One**

**August, 1979**

The weak morning sunshine filtered through the window blinds of room 149, illuminating the small, white-walled room. Outside birds began to chirp, and a few cars raced by along the highway. The elderly lady lying in the bed began to stir. Blinking her eyes against the sun light she coughed and weakly rubbed her sad eyes.

There was a knock at the door. A young lady dressed in a crisp, white nurses uniform swept in with a tray balanced on her hip, her high heels clicking softly on the overly sanitized floor.

"Good morning, Mrs. Cooper!" she said in an extremely cheery voice as she helped the frail lady sit up. "How are you today? Here, let me get you some water," she continued without waiting for a response. "Your daughter is coming to visit today! And I hear she's bringing someone very special too!" Mrs. Cooper gave a weak smile. "Look, I brought you some breakfast!" the young nurse picked up the tray she'd brought. "Here you go. Looks like cantaloupe, strawberries and bananas in the fruit bowl, milk, and a few pieces of toast. Yum! I'll leave you to it, if you need anything, remember, just push that little red button!" and she left, her high heels clicking all the way. The old lady sighed. At least her daughter was coming to visit.

"Now Lily," Mrs. Evans was telling her youngest daughter. "Remember, Grandma is very sick, you must speak quietly and be very cheerful, we don't want to upset her."

"Yes Mum," the red-head replied. Gazing out the car window Lily watched as the hospital's sign came into view. She had seen it only twice before. First when they'd just found out that Grandma was in the hospital. Lily had only gotten to come along because they had been on the way to school and her parents didn't have time to drop her and her sister off. The second time was right before a surgery. The doctors had told her grandmother that she might die, so Grandmother had requested that they bring the children.

As she watched the large brick sign draw nearer, Lily found her mind wondering back over all the time she'd spent with her grandma. She had always been very close to her. One of her favorite memories was of the Christmas where the big pond behind her grandmother's house had frozen over and she'd taught Lily how to ice skate! Grandmother had been a marvelous ice skater when she was young, she'd even made the Olympic team! But she never made it to the Olympics; her left foot was smashed in a car accident only weeks after making the team…

"Here we are," said Mrs. Evans, turning off the car and stepping out. Lily hurried out behind her.

"You've got visitors, Mrs. Cooper!" cried the annoyingly happy nurse. She stepped aside and Mrs. Cooper watched as her daughter walked in, followed by a certain little red head.

"Lily!" Mrs. Cooper wheezed, her face breaking out into the first true smile in ages. "My little girl! Come here." Walking over to stand awkwardly beside her grandmothers bed, Lily saw, out of the corner of her eye, the nurse silently beckoning her mother out of the room. Without another glance Mrs. Evans walked out, shutting the door quietly behind her.

"Good. I thought that annoying, happy-happy nurse would pull her out of here. To talk about me no doubt." Lily smiled. "Quick, fetch me that box in the bottom draw over there," she said, pointing to the dresser across from her bed.

Lily did as she was told and handed it to her grandmother. She watched curiously as Mrs. Cooper opened it to reveal a pair of ice skates.

"Their beautiful," Lily breathed. And they were. Even though they were obviously rather used, the leather was worn and the strings were frayed, they had a well polished gleam to them and Lily had the feeling they'd been well loved.

"They were my first pair. I got them when I was your age, and they were the pair I used all the way up to the the crash. I never had better pair. They were mine, and now they're yours. I've been keeping my eye out for someone to give them to. Your mother didn't have the mind set, not at all imaginative or flexible, neither did her siblings, either too unimaginative, not built right, or too lazy. And your sister doesn't have the build. But you, you have the body of an ice skater, you have the mind, the creativity, you're determined and brave. So now, I give them to you. I hope you'll learn to love them as I did."

Lily opened her mouth to say something but they could hear the voices of her Mum and the nurse coming nearer. Snapping the lid shut Grandmother whispered in her wheezy old voice, "Put them in the bottom of that large bag I'm giving to you're mum, I don't want to answer her questions right now. It's our secret." She smiled, and winked.

So silently Lily slipped the ice skates under the pile of stuff that Grandma was giving them. She stood up just in time to see the door open and her mother walk in, the nurse just behind her. Lily's mom handed her the car keys and told her to go take the bag with the stuff of Grandma's to the car. Quickly and silently Lily obeyed, still thinking about the skates.

Mrs. Cooper died that night from lung cancer. Her funeral was held the next week. Many people knew her name from T.V, to them she was the promising figure skater destined to go to the Olympics, who's dreams were dashed one night because of a car crash. But few people would've turned up, so it was a private funeral, just a priest saying some words as she was laid in the ground and the family saying their final good byes.

"Come on Lily," said a tall, dark haired man. "It's time to go."

"Just a minute Dad," the red head muttered, whipping her teary eyes with the back of her sleeve. Her father nodded sadly, knowing she'd been very close to his mother. He continued on to the car, leaving her alone.

Lily turned back to the simple grave. The headstone was one of those new flat ones, less expensive and required by the people who ran the graveyard because they made it so much easier to mow the lawns. Kneeling down next to the grave Lily lay a small bouquet of red roses onto it. "I know you loved your red hair," she murmured. Holding back tears she lay her hand onto the headstone. "I will learn to skate like you. I don't know how, but I will. I will make you proud."

Standing up she turned away, and headed back to the car where her family was waiting.

**I am in the process of updating this story with the new changes I've added to the chapter. For quite a while it's been abandoned but I'm picking it up again. If you've already read this, I'm sorry that this chapter is so close to the original one. But, it gets more different soon.**

**Thank you for reading, please leave a review!**

**Echo Chambers**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

**August, 1979**

The bright morning sunlight streamed through Lily's bedroom window, falling onto her bed. Only, she wasn't in it.

"MUM!" came a scream from down the hall, "LILY'S HOGGING THE BATHROOM!"

"AM NOT!" yelled Lily.

"YOU'VE BEEN IN THERE FOR ALMOST AN HOUR!! AND I'M GOING TO THE MOVIES WITH SARAH TODAY!" screamed back Petunia.

"GIRLS!!" yelled their father, "STOP ARGUING!"

There was a short silence, broken only by the sound of a shower running. Then it too stopped. A few minutes later a soaking wet girl, wrapped in a towel stepped out. Water still dripping from her red hair, Lily glared at her sister. Petunia scowled and brushed past her, slamming the door behind her.

Shooting her sister another furious glare, Lily stormed into her bed room. Muttering furiously about annoying sisters and stupid look-obsessed girls, Lily searched her closet for the right clothes. She couldn't find what she wanted! Then again, she didn't exactly know what she wanted, but that was not the point. Growling in frustration Lily started tossing clothes onto the floor, breaking a couple plastic hangers as well. Finally she found something to wear. A green tank top, jeans and flip-flops. After rummaging through her dresser for under garments she threw it all on and flung herself onto the bed to comb her hair.

_'Why do they have to be so - so SECRETIVE! It's not fair! They only let me see her three times in the last five months of her life! And only that much because Grandma REQUESTED that she see me!'_

"Lily," called her mother from outside the bedroom door. She walked in and sat down beside her on the bed. Lily turned away. "Honey, I know Grandma's death is really hard for you, it's hard for all of us, but it's not okay to do things like this. You need to calm down and act reasonable."

Lily rolled her eyes and ignored her. Her mind began wandering off. Lily started thinking about the ice skates in the back of her closet. She hadn't told anyone about them yet. Not even Jackie, she hadn't spoken to her best friend since the day she got the skates. She'd hardly spoken to anyone.

"Look, Petunia's just as sad as you are, but she hasn't thrown such silly tantrums. She didn't refuse to eat for the days up until the funeral. She's handling it like a lady and you'd be wise to try look up to her -"

Suddenly an owl flew in through Lily's open window and dropped a letter on her lap. "What the heck…" Lily muttered. She picked up the letter, it read:

Miss. L. Evans

South East bedroom

27 Raven Lane

Black Hedgehogs

Kent

Flipping it over she fingered the wax seal on the back, a badger, lion, raven and snake on a shield, connected by a golden 'H' in the center. Opening it, she pulled out a letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss. Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Professor Willow will arrive at 12 'o clock, July 17 to explain everything. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagal,

Deputy Headmistress

"Mum…" Lily began uncertainly.

"What does it say dear."

"I'm a witch."

"What? Lily, I'm not in the mood for jokes right now. What does it really say."

"I told you the truth!" Lily yelled, standing up, "Here! YOU read it!" and she ran from the room.

"Oh, oh dear." Mrs. Evans muttered, staring at the door Lily had just slammed behind her.

_'Why does she always have to be so stupid! Why would I say 'I'm a witch' if it wasn't true? It's not like I constantly lie to her. Okay, I Haven't been great these past few weeks, but they haven't been good these past five months! And I haven't been lying, just ignoring them. Humph.'_

Still furious, Lily stomped out the back door and stormed over to the old Oak, climbing up it till she reached her favorite branch, and leaned her back against the trunk.

_'It's so unfair! Petunia's the perfect one. She's dealing with it perfectly. She's do everything so lady-like and maturely. It's stupid. I wish I really was a witch, just so I could rub it in Petunia's fat face!'_

Suddenly her musings were interrupted by the sound of her mothers voice. "Lily! Come in here!" Not wanting to face her mother or the talk she was going to get about slamming doors, Lily took as much time as she could getting down from the tree. But when she walked into the living room she could tell that slammed doors were the last things on her mothers mind.

For standing in the middle of the room was a strange lady. She had grey hair streaked with white, well weathered skin, and wise brown eyes. But the strangest thing about her were the brown robes, yes ROBES, she was wearing. They were plain and simple, stained by dirt and grass. She had the look of a gardener.

"Hello, I'm Professor Willow, you can call me Rayna if it makes you more comfortable. I'll be your Herbology teacher at Hogwarts, Lily." She noticed the wide eyes, and opened mouthed looks of bewilderment the Evans family was giving her and chuckled. "Sorry, this is my first time doing this. I'm just covering for Dumbledore today, he usually does this type of stuff."

"So, Lily's really a - a witch?" stammered Mrs. Evans.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. I'm sure this is all very shocking for you, but I can assure you, you'll get used to the idea pretty soon. It'll take a while for me to explain…"

"Here, have a seat," Mr. Evans gestured to the couch with his hand.

"Oh, thank you." Professor Willow took a seat and the family followed suit. "Now, first things first. I know most muggles don't believe in magic until they see it, so what would you like to see me do for you. Just to make sure I'm not tricking you, of course. You'll ask for so sort of transfiguration no doubt."

"You, you can't bring back the dead, can you?" Lily asked quietly.

"No, dear, not even the most powerful witches or wizards can bring back the dead." said Willow softly. "I'm sorry." There was a short silence then,

"Could you get Mum's coffee cup? It's in the kitchen," said Petunia, curiously.

"Accio coffee cup!" cried Professor Willow. The Evans all stared as Mrs. Evans flowery coffee cup came whizzing thruogh the living room door and into Willow's hand. "Here you go," she said, handing it to it's owner.

"Oh, oh my. You really are a witch."

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP-- SLAM!!" Lily threw her alarm across her bedroom.

"Lily!! DID YOU BREAK YOU'RE ALARM AGAIN?!" Mr. Evans yelled from downstairs. Lily sighed and dragged herself out of bed. Riffling through her closet Lily pulled out a red tank top and jean shorts. Bare foot she jogged downstairs and sat down for breakfast.

Her father was already seated, reading through the newspaper, a half eaten pancake on his plate. Her Mum dropped a plate down before her and Lily grinned. Digging in, Petunia joined beside her. "Morning Mum. This smells great!" said Petunia.

"Thanks dear," Mrs. Evans looked up, and noticed petunia was still in her P.J.'s "Go get dressed first though. We're leaving soon after breakfast."

"No, Mum. I don't want to go to Dragon Alley! Carol invited me to the mall and a movie, so can't I go with her instead?"

"But, I thought - Thought it'd be a nice family time…" Mum complained.

"No. I don't want to go follow Lily around getting _school_ supplies." Mum sighed and looked at Dad. He peered over his newspaper.

"Alright, you're old enough to do what you want, and you can always visit Dragon Alley next year if you'd like." Petunia smiled, hugged Dad and ate her pancakes.

"See you later!" She called as Carol knocked on the door.

"Be back by five!" Dad called after her, she waved, and left.

"Thirteen inches exactly, dragon heart string made of oak, go on, give it a wave!" Mr. Ollivandars, a small and highly energetic man, was flitting around his shop in Diagon Alley, handing Lily new wands to try so fast she barely had time to try them. She was starting to worry that they'd find the right one but he'd snatch it out of her hand so fast he wouldn't notice that they'd found it! The pile of tried wands was quickly growing.

"Ah, here, 10 and a quarter inches, willow with a unicorn tail hair. Nice and swishy, good for Charms work." Lily took the offered handle, expecting it to be as normal as all the other wands, and break something, or perhaps do nothing. But to her amazement, as well as her parents, it did neither, instead shooting out a mix of black sparks and rain drops. "Ah… the perfect wand for you. Interesting, hmmm… truly remarkable. 13 sickles. You're a promising young witch you know. Aye, very promising…" and he disappeared into the back of the shop, the boxes of wands flying back to their appropriate shelves. Professor Willow helped Lily sort out the money and they placed it on the counter before making their way back out into the crowded street outside.

"There, all done unless you want a pet?" said Miss Willow.

"No thankyou, ma'am," said Lily. Miss Willow nodded, and lead them back to the muggle world.

Standing just inside the front door of the Evans house, Professor Willow remembered something, "Oh! And I'll meet you at Platform Nine on September 1st to show you how to get onto Platform 9 and three quarters. Good bye, Lily." and with a CRACK! she disappeared.

**Thanks for reading, please review!**

**Echo Chambers**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**Chapter Three **

**September, 1979**

_Lily was standing beside her grandmothers hospital bed, holding her hand and gazing at the ice skates. Grandma's lips were moving, but Lily couldn't hear her… then she was holding roses, looking down at her grandmothers dead, white face. She turned away and began sprinting through the gravestones… the graveyard turned into a stone hallway… she was nearing the open door at the end… her grandmothers words rang in her ears… 'Love them as I did… Love them as I did…'she burst through the doorway--_

Lily sat bolt-upright in bed. Wiping her sweaty face with her covers she checked the time and got out of bed. Pulling open the window she gazed out at the sky, letting the early-morning air cool her skin. It was that dream again. She'd been having it almost every night since finding out she was a witch. Lily turned her gaze to the closet where the ice skates were hidden. She'd been having second thoughts about really learning to ice skate now that she new she was a witch. But they were slowly disappearing. She knew she had to learn. It had been her grandmothers last wish.

"Lily," her mother was standing in the dark doorway, still in her dressing gown, her hair very frizzy. "What're you doing up so early? It's gong to be a long day today."

_'I just had this weird and frightening dream again Mum, I don't understand it. I don't understand anything any more! I just know I need to learn how to ice skate and that Grandma shouldn't have died!'_ Was what Lily wanted to say. But instead she just said,

"I guess I'm just nervous. As you said, it's gonna be a big day."

"Oh honey." Mrs. Evans sighed, walking over to wrap her arms around her daughters shoulders. They gazed out at the sky together. "I'm gonna miss you Lil's. It won't be the same without you. Promise you'll write to me?"

"Everyday," she promised. They stood like that for quite a while, each off in their own thoughts.

"Mum," Lily asked suddenly. "Do you ever dream about Grandma, you know, that last night in the hospital?"

Mrs. Evans paused before she spoke. "Yes, I do. And I can think of a thousand things I wish I'd have said too. I miss her dearly, is that what you mean?"

"Yeah," again a long silence followed these words, but this time neither of the broke it.

"Petunia, will you go tell Lily that if she's not ready in about five minutes we're going to be late?!"

The morning of September 1st was an extremely hectic one. With the entire family rushing about it seemed that they'd never be ready. Lily, dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a purple sweater, was hopping around in her room trying to pull on her socks, comb her hair, brush her teeth and finish packing - all at the same time. When Petunia saw her she immediately set her strait. "Lily, slow down! If you keep this up you'll never be ready! Here, let me finish you're packing for you."

"Thanks Petunia," Lily panted, sinking down onto her bed to put her socks on correctly.

"Gosh Lil's, you planing to leave forever?! You've got enough stuff in here to take the entire family away for a five year vacation!" Lily blushed. "Here, leave the teddy bear, you'll probably be made fun of with it. Take only ONE pair of flip flops, it'll be pretty cold most of the time, and you can get more when you come home for Christmas. You should leave the sleeping bag too, they WILL be giving you beds you know!" And so it was in that matter that the two sisters got ready for Hogwarts.

"READY?!"

"YEAH! YOU GUYS GET IN THE CAR WE'LL BE RIGHT THERE!" replied Lily, throwing her hair up in a messy bun and tossing the comb in her trunk. "There!" she gasped as she slammed the lid closed and sat on it, Petunia helping with the latches. "Thanks a million Petty."

"No problem Lil's." They smiled at each other and proceeded to carry the trunk down the stairs.

"Here we are, Platform 9," sighed Mr. Evans. "Ah, and there's Professor Willow." The Professor was, for once, not in her usual robes and was instead in a simple brown dress. A 'muggle' dress as she would call it.

"Over here," she waved them over. Okay, say you're good byes, Muggles can't get onto the platform."

"Oh… B-bye Mum, Bye Dad, Petunia," she said, hugging each of them in turn. "See you at Christmas then."

"By dear," sniffed her mother. "Remember to write and tell me all about what you learn!"

"Send a letter when you get there," said Mr. Evans gruffly, though his eyes were bright. "Love you."

"Love you too Dad."

"Bye Lily." sighed Petunia. The two sisters embraced.

"Okay, Lily. We've got to go now if you want to make the train."

"Bye! Bye Mum, Bye Petunia!" She called as she walked away, pulling the cart with one hand, waving with the other.

"Here we are. Now all you do is walk through this barrier. Let's do it together."

Taking a deep breath Lily followed Professor Willow's lead and leaned upon the barrier sliding through to the Platform.

"Wow." breathed Lily staring at the scarlet train before her. Belching stream it sat proudly beneath a sign reading: Platform 9 3/4. "This is amazing," she said, turning back to Professor Willow, only she was gone. "Oh well, best get on the train," muttered Lily, glancing up at the clock. There were only three minutes left.

Pushing her way through the crowded platform Lily lifted her trunk, with much difficulty, on to the train, then went in search of a compartment. Of course, most of them were taken so it was only once she was close enough to see out the trains last door did she find a compartment. But it was worth the walk and the wait, for the compartment was empty. So Lily dragged her trunk inside and sat down by the window, hoping no one would join her. She wasn't in the mood for company.

The train ride passed uneventfully for Lily. And, true to her wishes, no one asked to join her. By the time the stars had begun to appear Lily was fast asleep, dressed in her new Hogwarts robes, her wand tucked safely in her belt. It was a short nap though, because shortly after night fall the train began to stop, pitching Lily from her seat and onto the floor. That woke her up. Dusting herself off and nervously checking her reflection in the window, as it was now dark enough to do so, she began nervously pacing back and forth. A voice came on over the intercom to remind all student to leave their luggage on board, then the train was stopped and students were suddenly surging out the doors and into the night.

"Firs' years, over 'ere! Over 'ere, Firs' years!" called an unfamiliar voice. A huge man was standing off to the side, holding an equally large lantern and calling all the first years over. Lily recognized him as Hagrid, Professor Willow had spoken very highly of him.

Pushing her way over to him Lily kept sneaking fearful glances at the horseless carriages the older students were all crowding into. She had the sneaking suspicion that they weren't as horseless as they seemed, and had the distinct feeling that whatever pulled them were not things one wanted to see.

After all the first years had gathered around Hagrid he set off, calling over his shoulder things like "Follow me", "This way!" and "Watch yer step!" and eventually, "Not far now", and "Just around this bend!"

Certainly enough, 'just around that bend' was the most amazing sight Lily had ever seen. Standing tall and proud Hogwarts castle was a magnificent sight. With all it's tiny windows lit the vast castle made the stars seem dull.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, gesturing to the fleet of boats bobbing by the lake shore. Still amazed at the castles greatness, Lily followed the small group down to the boats. She was quickly joined in hers by a girl and two boys. The boats moved along by themselves and they sat in silence as they watched the castle draw nearer. For once Lily didn't mind the fact that she sat with complete strangers.

Hagrid had walked them up to the castle where he'd handed them off to Professor McGonagal, head of Gryffindor house, who explained the basic rules and concept of Hogwarts to them before leaving them in a tiny side room to wait. Now she had returned and was showing them into the Great Hall where they'd be sorted. Lily had heard that they were going to be facing a were-wolf along with many other frightening, but fake, tales. Professor Willow had wanted to make sure Lily was prepared, and she'd done a good job. Lily knew it was an enchanted celling from the tales Willow had told her that first day when she got letter. She also knew that they would be sorted by a smart, but very dirty, old hat that had been made hundreds of years ago by the original four founders.

Standing as a group, all huddled together, most first years were whispering among themselves, nervous and excited about the sorting. But yet again, Lily found she didn't want company, so she stood aside, silent and alone, slightly apart from the rest of the group. Looking up from her shoes, Lily watched as Professor McGonagal brought out an old hat and three legged stool. She placed them down and the hat began to sing:

The Great Hall erupted into applause and McGonagal pulled out a very long piece of parchment. Once the applause had died down and the room was once again silent, she began,

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit to be sorted," she said. "Alexandar, Xena"

A tall, pale faced girl with long dark brown hair sauntered over to the stool and put on the hat as if it were a crown. It'd barely touched her head when it cried out, "SLYTHERIN!"

The table second from the right clapped and cheered as Xena strode over to sit with them. "Knew it," Lily heard a boy with messy black hair whisper to his neighbor.

"Armstrong, Joey," was sorted into "RAVENCLAW!"

And "Black, Sirius," became the first "GRYFFINDOR!". Lily heard a lot of boo's and hisses from the Slytherin table at that, and Dumbledore had to stand up and call for silence in order for the sorting to continue.

What if Lily was sorted into Slytherin? What if she was sent home? What if this was all a dream?

"Chambers, Nyx," and a few moments later the brunet was sorted into, "SLYTHERIN!" her name must becoming up…

Then, "Evans, Lily," Slowly, heart pounding, Lily walked through the crowd of first years and up to the stool. She could feel the eyes of every student in the hall watching her. She gave a quick glance at Professor Willow who smiled encouraging. Lily gave a weak smile in return. Then she sat on the stool and placed the hat on her head. 'Hm,…' said the hat, making Lily near jump off the stool in fright, 'interesting. Very interesting… but where to put you? Smart and highly intelligent… then again rash with plenty of courage…'

"Gryffindor. Please, Gryffindor," Lily whispered to the hat. "An ice skater must be strong."

'Very well… better be, "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily took off the hat, smiling in relief, and went to join the table on the far left that was applauding her. She could see the boy, Sirius Black, that had been sorted before her and went over to join him.

"May I sit here?" she asked, at his nodded she promptly collapsed onto the bench. Looking back up at the hat she was just in time to watch a plump little girl with pigtails scurry over to the Hufflepuff table.

"Hays, Holly" was another Gryffindor.

A few students later was Frank Longbottom, and right after him came Remus Lupin. He was a pale boy with a sickly look to him. He coughed as the hat fell over his eyes.

"Looks like you could blow him over with a feather!" Lily heard Frank whisper to Sirius. He laughed and replied,

"Yup, the poor bloke slept the whole way here. I shared a compartment with him."

Remus' sorting took a bit longer than most, but he was eventually placed in, "GRYFFINDOR!" and he too came to sit with them.

A few students later came "Nott, Mallory" who was placed in "SLYTHERIN!" Lily didn't know if it was her imagination or not, but the Slytherins did seem to be a sour bunch.

"Potter, James,"

"Ah, my best mate in crime," Sirius muttered.

was in "GRYFFINDOR!", as was Peter Pettigrew.

"Quar, Keanu,"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" and "Tails, Hali", a very pretty girl with golden-blonde hair and blue-green eyes walked up to the stool. She had a sporty look about her and seemed to be the type of person who everyone would want to hang out with. The hat had just slid over her eyes when it called out "GRYFFINDOR!" and she strode over to join the Gryffindors who were cheering loudly.

The rest of the evening passed very quickly. James and Sirius kept joking around, with plump little Peter laughing a bit to heartily. Hali was just as fun and sporting as Lily had guessed, and she spent the whole night entertaining her fellow first years with hilarious tales of her family's ridiculous attempts on finding out if she was a witch. "And as it turns out," Hali said laughing, "I've been showing signs of magic all along, but they were too busy trying to see it in other things to notice!"

But eventually the feast disappeared and Dumbledore stood up. "Now that you are all fed and watered, I have a few announcements to make. As always the Forbidden Forest is of course, Forbidden! And no magic may be used in the hallways. Also, as of this year, Professor Willow has decided to add a new and dangerous tree to our grounds. The Whomping Willow, though not off limits, is something to be treated with caution. And while on the subject of professors, Professor Higgidyhump has retired from his post as Defense Against the Dark Arts. Please welcome his replacement, Professor Fisck!"

There was a smattering of unenthusiastic applause, then the headmaster continued. "Now, first years, follow you're house prefects up to you're dormitories, off you go!"

**Please review!**

**Echo Chambers**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

**September, 1979**

A soft morning breeze swept through the open window of the girls dormitory, ruffling the thick, scarlet curtains on the beds. The girl closest to the window shuddered and rolled over, but apart from that, no one stirred. Everything was still and peaceful. Each girl exhausted from the long and stressful night before. But eventually they began to wake. First the golden-blonde one off to the side. Yawning and stretching she fell out of bed with a loud "THUMP!" which aroused the ashy-brunet next to her. Then the brunet got up stiffly and stubbed her toe on the bed stand. Her colorful cursing woke the rest of the dormitory and slowly they all crawled out of bed, some more reluctantly than others. The ashy-brunet in particular. She grumbled and cursed all the way into the shower where she began muttering under her breath, much to the amusement of the blonde. "Not a morning person, Erynn?" she called laughingly. Erynn merely growled and grabbed for a towel

"Why do we have to wear such ugly uniforms?" the other brunet asked in frustration, trying, with out success, to button up the blouse.

"Deal with it Ash." called the golden-blonde from the showers.

"Oh no!" wailed Erynn, "I think I forgot my socks!"

"There in my trunk," called Hali. "You're Mum couldn't find you on the platform so she gave 'em to me."

"Thank goodness!" sighed Erynn, turning to look in her friends trunk.

Lily, who'd been silent through all of this suddenly realized the time. "We've only got twenty minutes left for breakfast!" she shouted, yanking on her robe and picking up her book bag. Then remembering she didn't know what subjects she had, set it back down. Running a comb through her hair she ran into the restroom to search for a hair band, tossed her hair up in a messy bun, then scrambled down to the common-room, the other girls just behind her. But once they'd crawled through the portrait hole they realized they had no idea how to find the Great hall for breakfast.

"Where-?" began Erynn, but the Fat Lady interrupted.

"That way girls," she said kindly. "Take a right at the end of the hall, go down the left flight of stairs then take another right. The other portraits can help you from there."

"Thanks," said Lily quickly before running to catch up with the group. And eventually, with the help of many MANY portraits they made it to breakfast, about ten minutes to spare. The owls had just come in with the post when they sat down and Professor McGonagal had just started to pass out the schedules. Sitting down beside Holly, Lily grabbed some toast, fruit and a glass of milk and began shoveling, listening to the others talk.

"Hey, that Sirius is hot," whispered Ashley to Hali as he passed with James. The boys looked relaxed with each other and were laughing and goofing off already. Lily decided they must be pure-blooded to know each other so well after just a night. She'd heard that the pure-bloods often held big fancy parties for each other. They'd probably met at one of those.

"Dang, my Gran sent me another package of fudge! And now I have to send her a bloody thank you letter, even though I hate her cooking! I swear, she could burn a salad without even trying!" Lily had suddenly frozen. Setting her milk back down with a little too much force she stared down at her toast, no longer hungry. She could feel anger swirling in her stomach. At least Holly HAD a grandma! She should be thankful! Lily knew that if it was HER grandmother sending fudge she'd not mind writing a fake thank you letter if it meant she'd be able to run up her gravel drive again, hug her cancer-free body and smell her soft, lilac shampoo. To hear her voice go soft as she talked about the days when she could skate all day at the rink without breaking a sweat. To see her bright blue eyes light up at the first sight of snow, always hoping that the pond would freeze over and she could dream of skating again… Lily would do anything if only it meant she were alive…

"Hey, Lily…" Someone was poking her on the arm. "Earth to Lily. Here's your schedule. Same as everyone else. You were zoning out big time there. McGonagal came by with the schedules a minute ago…" snatching the list Lily stood up, her breakfast barely eaten, and strode out of the hall. She could feel tears building up in her eyes as she climbed the marble stairs, but she brushed them away. She began walking faster and faster, then she broke into a run, retracing the path she'd gone with her friends on the way down to breakfast. Ducking behind a tapestry she fell down the stairs. Cursing she pulled herself up and ran on. All the way to the Fat Lady's portrait where she realized she'd forgotten the password.

"This is so stupid!" she sobbed. "What type of school has passwords for everything, trick stairs, fake doors, and every other imaginable way to get lost or stuck or late or…"

"Calm down dear," said the Fat Lady soothingly. "Here, the password is Flubberworm. I'll let you in this once, just don't go telling anyone I'm doing this. The first week is always the hardest, but trust me, you'll learn you're way around pretty quick."

"T-thank you" Lily chocked. "Thanks a million."

Running up to the dormitory she threw herself onto her bed and cried. She missed Grandma so much… Drying her eyes on her pillow she got up. Opening her trunk she gently pushed aside her books, clothes and other things until she came to the bottom where she felt soft leather. Then, gently, she pulled out the ice skates. Looking up at the sunrise she renewed the vow she'd made what seemed like years ago, back when she didn't know about magic, back at the funeral. "I will learn to skate like you. I don't know how, but I will. I will make you proud."

And with renewed determination shining in her green eyes, she set the skates back down and stood up. Grabbing her books she slid down the girls staircase and headed off to find the Transfiguration class. Hopefully the portraits would help her.

**I'd love it if you'd review!!**

**Echo Chambers**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

**September-November 1979**

_September, 1979_

_Dear Mum, Dad and Petunia, _

_Sorry this letter's a few day's late, it took me a while to find the owlry. I'm just writing to say I made it to school in one piece. Yesterday was our fist day of classes and they were amazing! It was mostly the normal this-is-our-school-and-this-is-what-we-expect-of-you stuff for the start of each period but there was always some sort of hands-on piece to them. The classes turned out to be a lot more realistic than I thought. As it turns out most of the kids are either from a muggle family, like me, or are half and half! And even the pure-bloods haven't done magic yet, 'cause it's against the law for anyone under the age of 16 to do magic outside of school. _

_For our first night here it was even more amazing than Professor Willow had said! Once we'd got off the train we followed Hagrid, the gamekeeper Professor Willow talked about. He took just the first years off along this path through some sort of forest and we came around this bend and BAM! There was the castle. It's so beautiful, I wish you guy's could see it… but to muggles it's just a broken down pile of rubble with a DANGER! sign. We crossed a lake and continued up to the castle where Professor McGonagal, the Transfiguration teacher, head of Gryffindor house and Deputy Headmistress, showed us into a tiny room where we waited for what seemed to be FOREVER! And people kept telling these rumors about how we would get sorted, one boy was scaring this other boy about us having to fight a were-wolf! Poor Remus, that was the boys name, was a white as a ghost, and I know that from experience! There's ghosts all over the place at Hogwarts. They're nice though. Anyways, after a long time Professor McGonagal came back and led us in to the Great Hall, which really is spectacular. The celling mirrors the sky out side and the entire place is lit with candles that hover over the four tables (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin) which are all covered in these golden plates that fill magically after the sorting! Oh yeah, I'm in GRYFFINDOR!! Can you believe it?! The house known for bravery, daring, nerve and chivalry! WOW! Well, Headmaster Dumbledore stood up after the feast and said a few things about the Forbidden forest being Forbidden! And that an old professor retired and the new one was introduced, I forget his name though. Then we all went up to our dormitories. The Gryffindor one is hidden behind a (don't tell anyone!) portrait of a lady in a pink frilly dress. She's called 'The Fat Lady'. What a flattering name! _

_There are five boys in my year, Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Frank Longbottom! James and Sirius were goofing around all dinner with Peter, a plump little boy who I think just wants attention, laughing a bit too loudly. Then there's Remus. He's REALLY quiet and looks really sick. I thought at first he might have cancer 'cause he seems just so tired, but he says it's not. I'm relieved, even though I don't really know him, cancer scares me._

_And then on a happier note there's the girls. Holly, who has cute blonde hair cut just below her chin and bright blue eyes, she's pretty quiet though. Bookish I'll bet. Then there's Ashley Banks, Hali Tails and Erynn Peace. Hali seems to be one of those girls who's really popular. Already I think everyone knows her name! From what I hear she plays just about every sport there is! Plus she's a half blood so she knows quidditch AND all the muggle sports! She's also really funny, smart and fits in with the boys just as much as the girls. Ashley and Erynn seem to be pretty close to Hali already, their all half bloods. Holly's a muggle born like me._

_We got our schedules at breakfast on our first morning here, one that I had nearly overslept. Hey! Not my fault the feast took so long the night before! All the first years have the same stuff. I'm really excited and I've read through all my textbooks so far. I've tried a few simple spells and they've worked! So in Charms when we learned to light our wands, 'Lumos' the most simple of all spells and the first one we ever learn, I got it on my first try! Well, it's almost time for breakfast, so I'll tell you more in my next letter._

_Love you all, _

_Lily_

**Dear Lily,**

**I certainly do wish I could see Hogwarts. It sounds like you're having loads of fun. Things aren't going as well back here at home. You're father's having some trouble at work. But things will be better soon. It's good to hear things are so wonderful at your school. I know you were worried about it.**

**Love always,**

**Mum**

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_Just writing to say 'Hi', I promised you I'd write. I'm having a great time here. I've made loads of good friends and I'm learning a ton! So far History of Magic's my favorite subject, even though the teachers a bore. It's taught be Professor Binns, a ghost. Lots of people joke that he's so old he probably witnessed the stuff he talks about. They don't listen enough to hear what he says about how no witches or wizards remain alive or well enough to tell us what happened in the very beginning of magical history so we rely on the few writings we've been able to find, but most of our information comes from the century just before the time of the witch burnings. We'll be learning about witch burnings next year. Though I've heard it's really confusing. _

_I also really like Potions with Professor Slughorn, he's a really nice man and very fair, something Potion teachers aren't know for. He's even gone out of his way to help a boy named Peter who struggles a lot. So far Hogwarts is like a dream come true, please write back._

_Love you,_

_Lily._

**Dear Lily,**

**We're so glad Hogwarts is turning out to be such a great place for you. We'd been afraid that you might've had a hard time making friends or hanging out with other kids after Grandma's death. We're glad to see you've pushed through this difficult time and managed to be social and make new friends. As you know you're father's having some trouble at work, but he says you're letters give him something to look forward to every night. Thank you so much for writing!**

**Love you,**

**Mum**

_Dear Petunia,_

_So far Hogwarts has been amazing! I wish you were here though. You'd love this place, I know how you love to draw. Guess what! The pictures here can actually move! They can talk, and visit each other in their picture frames. I've even overheard some third year say that they can visit pictures of themselves in other buildings too! Maybe I'll learn how to make them move in Potions class and I can make some and send them home to you! _

_Petunia, please don't tell Mum and Dad about it, but I'm really home sick. And I haven't made any friends yet. It's really hard to find my classes and Professor Slughorn is really mean and unfair. I've been late to every class of his so far and I already have lost my house 50 points and got my self four detentions. I guess the only sort of true thing I told Mum and Dad was that I liked History of Magic, but really I think Transfiguration is much more fun. It's taught by my head of house, a strict but extremely smart witch. She's very tough and has high expectations but her classes are always fast paced, informative and always have some sort of hands on experience piece to them. I hate lying to Mum and Dad but I don't want them to worry. You're the only one I can trust. I miss you a lot, please write back._

_Thinking of you,_

_Lily_

_**Dear Lil's,**_

_**Mum read you letter aloud last night and I can't believe how much you lied to her! But I can understand why. Dad's a real mess. He comes home looking so sad and depressed. You're letters, though full of lies and fake good-news, make him smile. I want to say 'don't lie to them! Their you're parents!' but instead I'll just turn a blind eye. I couldn't tell you not to when they make Dad so happy!**_

_**About the home sickness. I used to get really sad at first when I'd go away to those week long summer camps. I found that just hanging out with other girls made me get more comfortable and settle in quicker. If that's not something you're up to yet, I know I'm not, try doing something else to keep you're mind off things. At the moment I've been reading ALL the time. Really, it works. There's nothing you can do anything about dumb or mean teachers, but I advise ignoring mean comments and working extra hard, such as double or triple checking all you're work or ideas before you turn in, do, or say anything. Sorry if I'm not much help.**_

_**And about those pictures, I'd LOVE it if you could send me one. That sounds fascinating. They are one of those magical things I CAN see right? I hate to say it but I'm REALLY jealous of you. You get to be away at a private boarding school while I'm stuck here at home. Everything is so messed up here. People are so stressed out… I can't wait 'til you're home at Christmas. You've always had that special touch with people. We REALLY need you here. Please keep writing to me.**_

_**Love always,**_

_**Petunia**_

As the days wore on Lily got more and more familiar with the castle and soon knew her way around quite well. But her relationship with the girls in her dorm didn't get any better. On the contrary, it got worse. As Lily became more and more depressed she got farther and farther away from others and instead she dove further into her studies to try and escape the fact that truthfully, she had no friends at Hogwarts. Not that the girls were mean to her, they just had different interests and just never really included Lily among them as part of the group. Hali, Ashley and Erynn, already friends with each other when they came to Hogwarts, had quickly adopted cute and funny Holly as one of their own, leaving the shy, black-haired Lily all alone and even sadder than before.

So, Lily struggled doggedly to get through her school days, often staying up 'till long after midnight working on perfecting spells she hadn't quite gotten a hang of in class or perhaps checking and double checking a potions essay, making sure everything was done way in advance. Her mornings didn't start 'till seven, long after the other girls had left the dorm, and breakfast was often skipped. In class she was always silent, quickly taking notes from a seat in the shadows. Lunch breaks were spent in the library, dinner was always hurried, and the rest of the evening was spent in the library working on essays that weren't due 'till days later. When the Library closed she'd walk up to the owlry to send her parents a fake-happy letter so they wouldn't worry and send Petunia the truth. And she'd head up to the dormitory to repeat the her day again, and again and again. So it was in that busy manner Lily spent her days at Hogwarts. Slowly though, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months 'till eventually Christmas break was approaching. And annoyingly enough, all the girls in her dorm seemed to be able to talk about was what to wear, who was with who, who was staying for Christmas and what to get people.

"Erynn," Ashley called from her bed, "Are you still going out with Brent still? That cute Hufflepuff boy?"

"No, we broke up yesterday morning before breakfast."

"Oh, you didn't seem sad, did you dump him, or was it the other way around?"

"No, it was me doing the dumping." there was a slight pause then,

"You going home for Christmas?" asked Holly from the bed across from Ashley's.

"Yeah," was Erynn's reply. "I'm going to Hali's."

"You Ash?"

"Yeah, I'm going skiing with my Aunt and Uncle."

"Wow, sounds like fun! I'm off to my Granddad's, he lives out in the country so we'll get to go a bit crazy. And his new bitch just had pups so we'll get to see them! They'll be so cute!"

"We're going to have to exchange gifts before we leave for break." exclaimed Ashley.

"Yeah, but I'm going to bed now. I'm exhausted."

"Okay, night Erynn, night Ash, night Hali."

A chorus of 'night's follow this and then all was silent. Soon only the sound of steady breathing could be heard. But the girl in the bed by the window wasn't asleep. Instead, Lily was sitting on the end of her bed, gazing out the window at the crescent moon.

_'I wish you were here Grandma. I wish you could help me now. I don't know how I'm ever going to bring myself to come back here if I leave for Christmas. Professor Willow said this would be the best time of my life here at Hogwarts, but all I want is to leave. I wish I'd never found out about being a witch. If I hadn't I'd still be at home, I'd still have friends and most of all, I'd know who I am. Now I'm here and I feel so lost, so alone. No one knows me, no one wants to, I haven't been able to make you proud… I bet you don't even want to call me you're grandchild. I'm a disgrace. I've lied to my friends, I've lied to my family, I've broken my promise and I can't even be best in all my subjects, James Potter beats me in Transfiguration. I feel so empty, so worthless. I'd do anything to find an ice rink, so I could at least try to make you proud. So I'd know I wasn't completely worthless. But mostly, so I'd have something other than school work to cling onto when all I feel is guilt. Oh grandma, why did you have to die?'_

The chilly night air flowed past her, playing with her red hair. Sighing Lily closed her eyes, wishing, however foolishly it might seem, that some bright, shining angel would appear and tell her what to do, would forgive her and set her strait, would touch her and bless her with the strength to carry on, for at that moment Lily felt she'd like to just disappear and not try any more. She wished that the angel would bless her with friends and bring back her grandma. She wished it would solve her problems and make her happy - make her whole. But of course no shinning angel appeared and when she opened her eyes she felt just as bad and lonely and empty as she had a moment before.

With a huge yawn she turned and crawled into bed. Closing the bed hangings around her, she fell asleep.

The next day Lily awoke to the sound of laughter. Pulling open the bed hangings Lily saw, to her immense surprise, four boys standing in the girls dormitory. "What're you doing here?" she asked groggily.

They looked sheepishly at each other and the black haired boy exclaimed, "We didn't know you were in here! We thought you'd all gone down to breakfast!"

Scratching her head, messing up her already horribly knotted hair, Lily sighed. "But isn't it supposed to be impossible for boys to get in here? It says so in 'Hogwarts, A History'":

"Oh no! Not another one who's read that thing! Remus is always quoting from that thing!" the shaggy brown haired boy wailed dramatically.

Lily groaned. "Doesn't he realize it's too early for this?"

Remus laughed. "Don't think so, he's always like this."

"Would you guys mind leaving? I need to get ready for breakfast." said Lily in a strain, but polite voice.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like our help?" said James jokingly. But Lily wasn't in the mood.

"NO! JUST GET THE BLOODY HELL OUT OF HERE!" they jumped and raced for the door. They were on the staircase before they remembered the reason they'd used the secret passage. Stumbling and slipping they fell on each other as the stairs turned into a slippery stone slide. "AND STAY OUT!" she yelled after them. Sinking down onto her bed she growled in annoyance. Stupid jerks. Pulling on her uniform Lily walked into the restroom to wash her face and get ready for another lonely day of school.

Fifteen minutes later, Lily was down in the Great Hall with a plate of toast, and bacon, a side of fruit and a glass of milk when she noticed Smoke, the black owl she used to send letters with back and forth to her family, swooping down towards her. Two letters were tied to the poor birds legs. She was obviously struggling with the extra large package and as soon as she landed Lily was taking them off. Smoke hooted gratefully and took a bite of toast before settling down on Lily's shoulder. Lily absently stroked her feathers as she opened her letters.

**Dear Lily,**

**As you know things aren't going very well here at home. So we've decided to let you stay at Hogwarts with your friends instead of coming home this year for Christmas. We know how you're enjoying your time there.**

**Lover you,**

**Mum**

What? Lily's mid was working over time. They wanted her to stay for Christmas? She couldn't go home!! Fighting back the urge to bang her head on the table Lily opened the second letter with trembling hands.

_**Dear Lily**_

_**I know how you really feel about school. And I tried to change Mum's mind and let you come home. I told her how much I wanted you here, how much it'd help dad, but she said it'd be unfair to make you leave your friends and come home to this mess since it really wasn't going to be much of a Christmas. There's not even going to be a tree or stockings. Dads worse than before. But nothing I said made any difference.**_

_**Sorry,**_

_**Petunia.**_

At least she tried. Stuffing the letters inside her bag and headed off to History of Magic, her first class of the last day before break.

Sitting in the shadows of the class the green eyed girl stared into space. Usually she was the hardest worker in Professor Slughorn's class, and he often talked of how nicely her potions turned out, but today she just didn't seem able to keep her concentration, but, he decided not to comment. He'd let it go today, they were, after all, only taking notes from a section in the book at the moment and she'd be able to make them up later. On the other hand, those two buffoons goofing around in the back of his classroom… "Boys!" barked Slughorn, making them jump and look up at him innocently. "Please refrain from talking, we're working individually today." the shaggy, brown-haired one laughed and shook his bangs from his eyes, but opened his book and silence resumed.

Shaking her head Lily tried to pull her attention back to the lesson, Slughorn was saying something about the brewing of a shrinking potion, she just knew it as going to come up on exams… But her thoughts kept turning back to the ring the mystery person had sent. What did it mean?

"…must keep a close watch on the time…" What time was it? How much longer 'till she could leave and go for a run around the lake? "…be in pairs…" Professor Slughorns voice kept floating in and out of Lily's focus, "…term grade…" Lily finally gave up and lay her head down on her book. It was pointless. She was so tired, and confused. Questions kept floating lazily through her mind. Her eyes began drooping shut, and Lily didn't fight it.

_She was in that stone corridor, only it seemed so much more familiar… she was walking up and down by the blank wall, reading the words written in the air, 'I need an ice rink where I can learn to skate,' back and forth and back again she paced, and on the third turn a door appeared. It was a small door with chipped and faded paint, like a buildings back entrance. She reached her hand out to turn the handle…'_

"Miss. Evans, kindly keep your eyes open while in my classroom." Slughorns loud voice shattered her dream, bringing her back to reality. Blinking Lily heard snickering. "10 points from Gryffindor for falling asleep in class, now I as I was saying…" but Lily was already lost, 10 points? She'd lost house points before. 10 points really wasn't very much. She'd could easily make it up in Herbology next period…

But Hebology was just as hard as Potions. Lily's mind just kept wandering, asking questions and falling asleep or zoning out. And when Professor Willow looked up to see Lily's head on the plant in front of her she was NOT happy. "Mrs. Evans! 20 points from Gryffindor, you are dismissed from class. We don't want you getting suffocated by the Devils Snare, you need your wits about you today. You can make up the lesson in your detention at 8 o'clock the first day back from break." Too out of it to even feel sorry for herself, Lily silently stood up and left, walking back across the lawn and into the castle. Feeling a bit more awake after being in the crisp fall air and having a few cat naps, Lily decided to explore a bit before dinner, after all, everyone was in class and she had loads of time.

But since she was a first year , and her knowledge of the castle was not that great, she was soon lost somewhere, she supposed, near the seventh floor. Continuing up the stair case Lily took a left at the top and found herself in an all to familiar hallway. Off to the right hung the large tapestry of a poor night getting clubbed by some trolls, across from it was a blank stretch of wall. Slowly, doubting it would really work, Lily copied what she'd done in the dream, walking back and forth saying aloud, "I need and ice rink where I can lean to skate.' But to her amazement, when she rounded the third turn, the same battered door from her dream was there. Reaching out, half expecting to awake and find herself in Herbology being told off by Professor Willow, she turned the handle. Then, deciding it was all too real to be a dream, she opened the door and stepped inside.

She was standing on a small strip of tan carpet about a yard wide that stretched, as far as she could tell, all the way around the room. But in front of her was an ice rink with a simple wall, about 4 feet high, stretching all the way along the perimeter with North, South, East and West openings. Still in awe, Lily began to walk along the carpet, to her right was a door that she discovered, lead to a changing room, complete with a leotard to practice in and a body length mirror. Stepping back out she followed the carpet to the other end, where she found a record player with records to use, a card telling her where to get started seated on an other wise empty table. Back at the entrance again Lily noted the door to her left had been the restroom.

She just HAD to try out the room, but even as she thought to go get her skates, she realized that she was just WAY too tired. Deciding to come back later, she turned to the empty rink and said, "This is amazing, but I'm just too tired. I'll be back tomorrow. I promise." then she walked out the door, and watched it's faded paint slowly melt away, 'till she was once again facing a blank wall.

**Thanks for reading! I hope you liked how long it was. It was originally two chapters but a chapter's not allowed to be just letter…**

**Please review!**

**Echo Chambers**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

**December, 1979**

The night before had been extremely hectic, with the girls in her dorm running all around, packing things, wrapping presents, sharing last minute gossip, and exchanging gifts. Yet, as the first rays of sun began to light up the dormitory, few would've suspected such a busy night had taken place.

Yawning widely, the redheaded girl by the window made to roll over, only to find herself on the ground. Cursing quietly under her breath, Lily pulled herself up off the floor and began making her bed, a habit she'd yet to break. Then, quietly moving around the dorm, brushing her hair, washing her face and pulling on clothes, Lily got ready to go back to the magic room she'd found the day before. Pulling the ice skates out of her trunk Lily set them in her book bag along with her Transfiguration text and History of Magic essay. For some reason she just didn't want people to know what she was doing. Tucking her wand into her pocket she headed out the door and down the stairs.

A quick stop at the Great Hall and she grabbed toast in a napkin and continued on. Narrowly dodging Filtch, the caretaker, who was stomping around in a particularly sour mood, she crossed to the marble stair case and began climbing to the seventh floor. There she took a left and easily found the tapestry. Lily walked back and forth until the same old door appeared and she stepped inside. The rink looked exactly as it had the day before, the leotard still in the changing room, the same lesson card on the table. 'Make it around the rink five times without falling.' She was definitely starting at the beginning. But Lily soon found that that was exactly where she needed to start. Any silly dreams of getting on the ice and doing jumps and amazing feats were suddenly brought to a shattering reality. She could barely stand, let alone skate. Eventually, after a long time of struggling to get to the other end she found the rhythm. Still, by the time lunch rolled around she'd not completed two laps without falling.

Deciding to come back earlier the next day, Lily stumbled off the ice and tottered into the changing room. Slipping out of her skates and leotard she stepped under the shower that had appeared, dried her hair with a hair drier that had magically appeared, and threw on her jean and tank top before heading back out into the hall with ice skates safely hidden in her book bag.

Walking stiffly down the staircase, being careful with her heavily bruised knees, Lily made slow progress down to the Great Hall where she joined the few Gryffindors at the table. Remus Lupin had stayed, along with Frank Longbottom, but he was sitting with a 'friend', Alice Keys, over at the Hufflepuff table. Aside from them, only a fifth year study-obsessed prefect and a pair of 6th year girls had stayed for the holidays. There were even fewer students at the other house tables and everyone was looking around, as if to ask, 'Where is everyone?' Sensing their thoughts Dumbledore stood up. "If you'd all stand back by the doors…" they quickly obeyed, wondering what was going to happen. With a wave of his wand, the tables move together and with a flash of purple light they became one in the center of the room. "Here we go!" the Headmaster cried as the teachers were suddenly lifted up into the air and flown over to the table. "Care to join us?" He asked, and slowly, as though afraid their professors would bite, the ten or so students sat down, leaving a few empty seats as though to for a line between the teachers and themselves. Lily sat stiffly in an open seat, at the edge of the students half, only two seats separating her from her headmaster.

He watched her pick at her food for a while, but when she suddenly snatched an apple and made to stand up he said, "Leaving so soon? You've barely had anything! You really should try this ham, it's quite delicious if you ask me."

So, being a polite person, Lily sat back down and pulled a slice of the ham onto her plate and began cutting it into bite size pieces. Then she reached for her transfiguration book. But Dumbledore didn't get turned away that quickly. "Ah, you like Transfiguration?"

She nodded quietly and set her book back onto her lap, he was obviously wanting to talk. "Yes, but I don't quite get why animagus's have to register, Professor McGonagal was talking about that in class the day before. I mean, what if another animal had the same, or very similar markings? With just a worded description you could go through tons of frogs before you found Aaron Sphinxworth! And can't the wizards at the Ministry track wizards? If so why do they need a description anyway? But people wouldn't overlook big things like that I'm sure. It's stupid. I'm sure I just wasn't paying enough attention." Lily looked down, embarrassed to be talking to her headmaster, who had taught Transfiguration before, in such a complaining way.

But he was smiling, and said "No, you heard correctly, I doubt Professor McGonagal went that into detail about becoming animargi or the rules about becoming or being and animargi, that is usually saved for sixth or seventh years. I completely understand what you're saying. It would seem quite silly of them to need descriptions for the animargi because they can track magic, and becoming an animal is magic. But once they've transformed, if the animagi doesn't do magic, they can't be tracked until they transform back, because they weren't doing magic. It's true that the knowing their special markings doesn't always help, but it does limit the number of possible animals they are." Lily looked up.

"Yeah, that makes sense," she said slowly. "And what's the trick to turning a twig into a stick bug?" he laughed and started explaining. He'd gotten her to come out of her shell, if only for a moment.

The next day, when Lily woke up to find her dormitory empty her first thought was 'Oh my gosh! I'm late for class!" then she remembered that it was Christmas break, and all the other girls away doing something with friends or family. She might've slept in, but since she'd nearly scared herself to death thinking she was late, she felt wide awake. So instead, she grabbed her book bag and ice skates and headed down to breakfast, this time stopping to chat with Remus before heading up to the rink. This time was no better than last though. In fact with all the bruises from the day before, it seemed to be worse. She did manage to get around the rink twice again without falling however.

Then, once she was worn out and had taken a shower and changed back into her jeans and a tank, she sat down in back of the room and worked on her home work, finishing her History of Magic essay and starting on her Transfiguration work before dinner rolled around. Deciding that since she'd already skipped lunch and didn't want to sit by Dumbledore again she'd better be on time she left five minutes early. Yet., her foot got trapped in a stair and she had to wait for Filtch to walk by before she got free. Though Filtch wasn't a kind man, he did have his job on the line, and since he'd already given out four detentions that day he knew he had to do something 'nice' to counter it. So, he helped her out. Still, Lily was again late and again got the last available seat, yet again beside the headmaster.

"I didn't see you at lunch Mrs. Evans." he remarked lightly.

"You count?"

"Well, with only 11 students it's hard not to notice when one is missing."

Lily had to agree with that. "I was working on my History of Magic essay."

"Already working on homework? Impressive. I myself, never seemed to get around to things until a few hours before they were due. I wasn't a very well organized student."

Lily laughed. The thought of the headmaster hurriedly scribbling things down at 2 or 3 o' clock in the morning was funny. But mostly because she couldn't imagine him doing anything in a frantic manner, and she couldn't seem to get rid of his long white beard in her mental image of him…

"I looked up how the ministry tracks people and found that they can't tell if a student does magic in a magical house hold! I wish I had magical parents!" This time Dumbledore laughed,

"You certainly do your research."

"Is- is that bad?" asked Lily suddenly feeling like 'know-it-all' was stamped on her forehead. Talking to the Headmaster definitely wasn't one of her strong points.

"Of course not! What teacher would ever say extra research was bad?"

That was how she passed her days. The first half or more was spent at the rink, the rest in the library or at a meal, where she always seemed to have to sit by the headmaster, but she was starting to feel more and more comfortable around him. What was left of the day was usually spent doing whatever she felt like.

Christmas day found Lily fast asleep in her four poster bed with the hangings drawn. So as the morning sun got brighter Lily slept on unaware. Eventually, around nine o'clock, she awoke, yet it was a awhile before she noticed the presents on her bed and remembered what day it was. At the foot of her bed sat four presents. A very small one from Jackie, her once-best-friend. One shaped like a book from her mum, a kind of funny shaped one from Dad and another small box from Petunia. In Jackie's were hand-made, green beaded earrings, but it was more of one of those gifts that you HAD to give someone rather than WANTED to give someone. The two of them had grown very apart since Lily mysteriously went off to this boarding school without telling Jackie and her parents wouldn't give Jackie the address to it… From Mum was a diary (P.S.: You haven't written to me all week!) from Dad was a big box of chocolates and from Petunia was a small ankle bracelet with a miniature pair of ice skates dangling from it. Only Petunia knew what was going on. Smiling Lily set about writing thank-you letters.

Later that night, with all her homework done, her presents put away and thank you letters sent, she sat munching on her chocolates by the fire, sketching out random things that came to mind. When she flipped back in her sketchbook to see what she'd done, she found that they were all of ice skating.

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	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

**January 1979**

_She was walking down a dark hallway, weirdly shaped doors lined both sides. Peering inside the first one she saw her Mom sobbing into her Dad's shoulder. Then her mom spotted her. "You lied to us! LIED TO US!" she opened her mouth to reply but couldn't find the words. Tears clouding her vision Lily backed away from them._

_"No- I didn't…I didn't mean- NO!" and she ran on. Past the door, her parents heavy sobbing echoing eerily all around her. "NO! I didn't- I'm sorry…" every door se passed added a new voice, Petunia, grief filled and accusing voice screaming about her killing someone. "What I didn't! What? No… NO!" _

_"YOU KILLED THEM! YOU KILLED THEM! HOW COULD YOU?! YOU KILLED THEM!"_

_Professor Dumbledore talking about a prophecy, "They will kill you…"_

_Remus, "I never thought you were so cruel, but now I know I should never have trusted you…"_

_The far door was open leading to a familiar gravel pathway… She ran inside and slammed the door behind her. Panting she walked up the drive to the pale yellow house. There, working in the garden was, "GRANDMA!" she yelled joyfully. Running up she threw her arms around her small shoulders in a warm hug. "Oh, I've missed you so much!" But her grandma didn't return the hug. Letting go Lily stepped back, cautiously studying her. But when Grandma turned to face her she was not smiling._

_"I left you the skates, I thought you'd try hard, that you'd be faithful and devoted to it."_

_"No, no, Grandma, don't say that!" tears were dripping down her cheeks. "I am, I'll work harder, I'll do better, please, don't say that! I love you, I love to ice skate!"_

_"You say that now, but do you really mean it? You must work hard! you must be devoted to the art you must TRY! Twice around the rink is nothing! You must work harder! You must-"_

"RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!" With a scream Lily sat bolt up right in bed.

"Lily, you okay?" asked Ashley worriedly.

"Yeah, but what was that noise?"

"Oh, sorry, that's my new alarm clock!" said Holly, pulling back her own hangings. "I got it over break, I would've told you about it last night, but when we got up here you were already asleep! Sorry 'bout that."

"No, it's fine, I'm just no used to alarm clocks…"

Hastily whipping all traces of tears off her face Lily pulled back her hangings and headed to the bathroom to grab a shower before Erynn could use all the hot water.

"Now, I understand you've had a long break for Christmas and I doubt many of you spared a thought for you class work but you'll still be expected to preform up to expectations and NOTE PASSING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED MR BLACK! Detention tonight for you and you're friend, Mr. Potter. As I was saying…" Professor McGonagal went on to explain some confusing little spell to turn a bull frog to a tree frog.

"Mrs. Evans, would you please give the class a demonstration?" said, not asked, the Transfiguration teacher, knowing full well that she'd been zoning out big time. Blushing in a flustered manner Lily quickly scanned the page in front of her and racked her brain for the movements. Then, unsure of herself she did a double flick of the wand and muttered, "Changio". Nothing happened.

"Now, if you'd turn to page FORTY seven might be able to find out what I was telling you and figure out the spell on you're own." said McGonagal curtly. "Class you have the rest of the period to practice," she turned to walk away.

As the end of class bell rang, Lily jammed her books into her bag, and nearly sprinted from the room. She was so embarrassed! At the staircase Lily made her desicion. Instead of walking down to potions, she quickly jogged up to the seventh floor, and her ice rink. Potions wasn't that important any ways.

Lily didn't go to any more of her classes that day. She stayed up in her ice rink where she had begun working on turns and halts, and changes of speed. It was after seven o' clock when she pulled off her skates and hobbled on sore knees and blistered toes, to the shower. With a tired, slightly crazy smile, Lily walked to her dorms and fell into bed where she dreamt of ice skating.

On Tuesday there was a Charms essay due, and Lily had no paper to turn in. On Wednesday they made a shrinking potion and Lily's turned cement-gray. Professor Slughorn frowned and tutted in disapointment. Lily was to tired to care. Just one bad potion didn't matter any ways.

By Friday Lily had failed to turn in five assignments, blown up another potion, caught a desk on fire and fallen asleep in class three times, and taken absolutely no notes. Professor McGonagal was not pleased.

"Today we will be transforming beetles to sticks. The chalenge in this spell is the difference in the objects size. The stick should be a good foot long at least…" Lily was not paying attention. "Miss Evans, pay attention! And see me after class."

The rest of the class period was filled with the scratching of quills as the students took notes as McGonagal lectured. Finally the bell rang, and the students were filling out Lily made her way towards McGonagals desk. "Mrs. Evans. Is there something you need to talk to someone about? You know that I and the rest of the staff are here to listen and help you."

Lily just shook her head 'no'.

"Well then, Miss Evans, I don't usually hand out tutors to first years, but you're really having trouble paying attention in class and you're grades have dropped dramatically. You're not turning in work, or passing tests so I know you're not studying. You're not even practicing during the time I give you in class. If you keep going at this pace you'll have to re-take fist year, and no one's done that since that Goyal girl more than 500 years ago!" Lily remained silent. McGonagal sighed.

"So, I'm requiring you to meet you're tutor in room 523, it's in the Charms corridor, next Friday at eight. You two will have to meet four times a week and you, Lily, will have to obey what the tutor says as far as studying goes. I expect you to take this seriously and if you skip I'll find out easily enough. Good day now, Miss Evans." By now some curious fifth years were starting to trickle in, obviously wondering how someone could be as stupid to need a tutor in first year. Blushing furiously Lily fled the room.

However, instead of turning left to head down to potions class, she fled right. Heading up to the seventh floor to her secret ice rink.

It was so stupid! How that heck was she supposed to be expected to give up skating for some dumb tutoring thing! She didn't get it. Furious she stomped up the stairs and back and forth in front of the wall. Slamming the door to the rink behind her Lily looked around. The cool silence of the rink calmed her and by the time she had her leotard on she felt relaxed. Stretching slowly Lily thought about how far she'd come.

By now she could skate pretty fast without falling and was trying to learn some of the harder basics, but she just couldn't get the hang of it. Walking it the back of the room she checked the goal card for the day. It read 'sharp turns'. One of the simplest things for ice skaters and yet she'd been working for days on it and the card had yet to change, signifying she had not yet mastered it. Turning on some of her favorite music, Lily stepped onto the ice.

Later that night, having skipped all her afternoon classes and dinner, Lily was walking down the fat lady's portrait, her stomach rumbling hungrily. Recently she'd begun to loose weight, nothing dramatic, but she knew she'd have to try to watch the time more carefully. She shouldn't be skipping more than one meal a day.

"Peppermint Bubble Gum," Lily muttered and scrambled through the portrait hole. Weaving her way through the throngs of talking, laughing and, in the Marauders case, arguing, groups Lily walked up the girls staircase and into her dorm. The girls were all down in the common room so Lily decided to change out of her uniform (she'd already taken a shower at the rink) and just hang out. Now in her PJ's, Lily crawled into bed and fell strait asleep. Homework could wait until tomorrow.

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	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

**January 1979**

"Good, Mr.Lupin, I'm glad you showed up. I'd like to ask you something. You know Lily Evans?"

"Yes Professor"

"Well, she's been falling really behind in ALL her classes. I know she's a good student, it's just that she doesn't seem to WANT to do well. I was hoping that you'd be her tutor. I know it's a lot to ask…"

"Oh, well," Remus paused. "You know, with my, um, illness…"

"That can be worked around."

"Alright, if that's so, I'd be glad to be her tutor."

"That great. Now here's where I was thinking you should start…"

Four days later Lily awoke to the quiet twittering of birds. Yawning she stretched her arms above her head and smiled. This was her favorite time of day, when you could watch the sun rise in the sleepy silence of the morning. Rising she slowly went about her normal routine and was soon seated on her bed in uniform, french braiding her hair as she gazed thoughtfully at the salmon-colored horizon. Today was Friday, and after dinner her tutor would be waiting in the unused classroom on the charms corridor, it was the one across the large portrait of Sir. Zarknoff, a muggle knight who was quite famous for his knowledge of herbs and thought to be the teacher of Helga Hufflepuff herself (Helga was quite gifted in Herbology and Potion making). Drawing her mind away from the random history she'd picked up during her third History of Magic Lesson, Lily reached under her bed to pull out the Transfiguration, History and Potions book to place over her skates. Swinging her heavy bag over her shoulder she headed down to the Great Hall wondering what was for breakfast.

Clutching a large napkin of toast in her hands, Lily jogged up the stairs to her ice rink. A passing Ravenclaw prefect looked at her disaprovingly, but said nothing. On the sixth floor she came across Filtch who was polishing a large statue of armor. They locked eyes and he glared. She smiled at him. Eyeing her suspiciously he watched her until she was out of sight. Finally at her rink she quickly strode the three wall lengths and entered through the door. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and went to change into her leotard. She couldn't wait to get started. Today was the review day of everything she'd learned so far. If she managed this she might get to start working on a dance, a real dance! Grinning she stepped onto the ice, today she was going to fly!

Lunch came and went without Lily noticing. Around three o' clock she was panting over at the card table, pouring herself a glass of water from the jug that always seemed to appear whenever she was thirsty. A grilled cheese sandwich was also there today. Smiling in amazement she ate it while looking over her card. It often added coach-like comments along the edges. At the moment it was telling her to keep her head up and shoulders back more consistently. Like in any dance, posture was extremely important on the ice.

'You lean forward on the leaps. Don't aim for distance, aim for height. Try to hit your head on the celling.'

Nodding to herself Lily finished off the sandwich and got back on the ice. Warming back up she practiced posture as she went through some basic routines. Soon she was back in the swing of things, stopping every once in a while to look back at the card for more advice. Lily was almost done with the card when the dinner bell rang. She wasn't particularly hungry, and she only had a little bit more to do! Slightly angry with herself for the breaks she had taken during the day, she pushed on keeping a wary eye on the time so she wouldn't miss her tutoring session. McGonagal would be furious.

Almost there, in about five minutes Lily would have to start getting ready, but she was almost done with the card! Just that one jump, and she'd been working on it all week. She had gotten it only last night, it should be simple. Minutes passed and Lily knew she almost had it. The card was still telling her to get her posture straighter on the complicated leap. Deciding to shorten her shower Lily kept going. Soon the card comments switched to tell her her arms were too stiff. The Charms corridor really wasn't that far away, she could spare a few more minutes. The comments were getting more and more picky and Lily knew she'd almost gotten it. She'd keep at it until she won. What did a few minutes late matter anyways? She often skipped whole class periods. The tutor wouldn't mind.

Fifteen minutes later and significantly late Lily had mastered her jump. Grinning like a maniac she began her cool down. Lily was drenched in sweat. She couldn't go any where without a shower! Deciding a five-minute shower really couldn't hurt too much as she was already almost a half hour late, Lily hurried into the changing room.

The hot water felt so good on her tired body. Soon the five-minutes became fifteen. Once Lily stepped out of the shower and wiped the fog off the clock she knew it really wasn't worth it to go to the lesson any ways. It would be over by the time she got there. Feeling a bit apologetic, Lily shrugged the negative feelings from her mind. How mad could McGonagal get?

_'I know school is important, and really, I did try and make the tutoring lesson today. It's just, I need a little more time to work on skating. Once I get better I'll have more time for school.'_ But would she ever be satisfied with anything less than perfection?

Scowling angrily Remus Lupin stormed into the common room and over to the side table where his friends sat. James looked from their game of chess up as he approached, Sirius swiveling around on his stool. Peter was immersed in his book. "Hey, Remus, what's wrong?"

"That - that JERK set me up! She promised McGonagal that she'd be there but oh no! She'd rather do what ever the bloody hell she does when she skips class than come and spare me the time of day. I am so - so ANGRY!" he fumed, nearly shaking with rage. "So there I am, sitting in the freezing cold class room, waiting so I decide to experiment with those frickin' warming spells and I mess up, so Flitwich comes in and LAUGHS at me for making a mistake attempting to warm myself up because I'm freezing cold, sitting in a bloody ice box waiting for that jerk to appear!"

James, Sirius and even Peter, having looked up from his book at the noise, stare at him. "Remus, you just swore. A lot." Sirius informed him. Remus glared. James and Sirius glanced at each other, mischievous smiles on their faces. Still glaring Remus sat down next to Peter.

"You have no sympathy." Remus sighed, his anger already gone. "So, how far are you guys on the History essay?"

"Miss. Evans!" barked Professor McGonagal, striding angrily towards her seat at the Gryffindor table. "Detention! Be in my office at 8 o' clock sharp on Monday! If you don't come this will go strait to the headmaster!" The kids around her stared, Lily blushed. Picking up her bag she decided she was done with breakfast. The heavy weight of her skates comforted her as she exited the staring hall. She had the whole weekend to skate, so if she worked hard enough she could probably cut back a few hours on some of the week days. Speedily she strode to her ice rink, her smile widening with every step.

Monday came far too soon for Lily's liking. Bleary eyed Lily stumbled around the dorm getting dressed and looking for her books. She'd spent twenty eight hours in her rink room and had not managed to change the card. It had been a review day, and the picky room was just not satisfied. But, underneath her annoyance, Lily new that the hard work would pay off. She would be amazing - someday.

In the end, Lily tripped down the stairs without a shoe, her tie in a jumbled knot and her hair unbrushed. Dazedly she stumbled through a group of four boys, not even noticing their cries of protest. Yawning, she tripped exiting the portrait hole, and lay on the ground a full minute, cursing her sore body. Catching sight of a clock on the way down to breakfast Lily switched directions. It wouldn't do to be late to Charms with McGonagal in such a foul mood.

Lily made it to class just in time. Snagging a middle-row seat, she thumped her books to the ground and went to pull out her Charms book. However, it was not there. And as she slowly began to wake up, she realized her left shoe was missing too, and that her tie wasn't nice, nor was her hair in any fashion proper for public viewing. Groaning, Lily put her head on her desk and tried to pretend she was still in bed, wonderfully comfortable, and well rested. Professor Flitwick would have none of that however. With a flourish of purple sparks his wand emittted an awakening fog horn noise, and Lily pulled her head up. Class had begun.

It was a horrid class, Lily decided not five minutes into the lesson. Professor Flitwick, perched upon his massive pile of books, was jabbering on and on in a squeaky little voice about spells and theories Lily had never heard of in her life. Then again, she had skipped the last five Charms classes, so that's probably why. Opening her book, Lily decided she ought to skim a bit of the chapters she was supposed to have read to get an idea of what he was talking about.

"Miss. Evans," Professor Flitwick squeaked. "Please pay attention while I am talking, or I must ask you to demonstrate." Scowling Lily shut her book, crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. Whatever he had to say, it wasn't worth her time. As he lectured, Lily's mind quickly wandered back to the rink. She needed to pass that card. It was only a review for Pete's sake! She should be able to master it easily! But she knew the card was right, it was always right. Her jumps were not graceful enough her turns not percise enough, her movement not fluid enough. She would do it though, she'd pass the card if she had to drop school completely! Then again, she needed the school to use the rink.

BONG! The Hogwarts bell woke Lily from her thoughful daze, and with the rest of the class she stood up and left, heading with the Gryffindors to History of Magic. Once inside the class Lily lay her head on her bag and fell asleep, she didn't even care if she snored.

At eight o' clock sharp Lily was sitting down in a chair before Professor McGonagal's desk. She had attended every class durring the day and wasn't sure what to expect from her head of house. "Miss Evans," she began abruptly. "I told you to meet your tutor on Friday, in room 523 at 8 o' clock, correct?" Lily nodded. "You knew this, and yet you did not feel it your responsibility to be there, on time and ready to learn?" Lily didn't respond. McGonagal scowled. "I am very displeased with you. I have treated you with respect and have not put childish restrictions on you but you have shown that it is nessicary. You have skipped far too many classes, and your grades are far from acceptable. From here on out you are going to be a modle student, understand? You will attend every class, you will turn in all your work, and you will be at every tutoring session on time. If you are late to any class, skip any class, fail to turn in an assignment or meet with your tutor, you will serve a week of detention with me. Do you understand?" Her voice was dangerously sharp and Lily felt herself nodding her head rather fervishly. She stopped immediatly.

"Good. For you detention tonight I need the gum scraped from beneath the desks, the rats need fed, and I have essays that need to be filed. Here, use this putty knife to get off the gum." Scowling, Lily took the offered implement and walked to the nearest desk.

Drooble's Best Blowing gum was not made to come off of desks, Lily quickly decided. The sticky pink substance clung so stubbornly to the wood that it was only when the last clinging strand was wrestled free, that the goopy glob could be removed. So, understandibly, it was nearly two hours of aching labor (her knees, already sore from falling and over-practice, were killing her for kneeling on the floor, and her arms were unused to so much pulling, yanking, twisting, and prying) that she was able to stand before McGonagal and ask where the rats were kept.

It well past Midnight when Lily finally began trudging up to the Gryffindor common room, Professor McGonagal's hall pass note clutched in her tired hand. "Whangdoodle," she told the fat Lady.

"What are you doing up so late?!" she squaked.

"Detention," Lily muttered, waving the crinkled note in her face. The Fat Lady pursed her lips, but let Lily without further complaint. The stairs to the dorm looked far to long. Instead Lily curled up on the couch before the fire, and swiftly fell asleep.

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